Details from September Greenville County officer-involved shooting released

The Greenville County Sheriff’s Office released a Critical Incident Community Briefing video Saturday morning detailing the Sept. 28 officer-involved shooting on Edwards Road that resulted in the death of a Taylors man.

Terrance Maurice Sligh, 34, was killed when deputies opened fire while attempting to serve an arrest warrant. Sligh's family has questioned the Sheriff's Office narrative and demanded further transparency, saying the video did not fully shed light on the events leading up to Sligh's death.

Previous reporting:One dead after deputy-involved shooting in Greenville County

The video, which is publicly available on the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office YouTube channel, includes audio of the 911 call that precipitated the arrest warrant, body camera footage of an interview with the complainant, and body camera footage of the fatal shooting from one deputy, in addition to commentary provided by department spokesperson Lt. Ryan Flood.

In the video, Flood said Sligh was armed, had fired at least one round at deputies, and determined that deputies’ actions were consistent with the department’s use of force policy.

Shot at deputies precipitated use of force, Sheriff's Office says

According to the video, the events leading to the deadly shooting originated with a 911 call placed on Sept. 28.

In the call, an unidentified female complainant alleged Sligh, her ex-boyfriend, had repeatedly threatened to kill her and sent her images of himself holding firearms.

The complainant told responding deputies Sligh struggled with a drinking problem. However, when the 911 dispatcher asked her whether Sligh had ever been diagnosed with “mental issues,” the complainant replied she was unaware of any.

The deputies who responded to the 911 call spoke with the complainant and with Sligh over the complainant’s phone. They subsequently obtained an arrest warrant against Sligh for unlawful communications and responded to Sligh’s address in an attempt to serve the warrant “due to the threatening nature of the complaint, threats against law enforcement and images of Sligh with firearms,” Flood said.

Sligh’s threats to law enforcement are not audible in the body camera footage released by the Sheriff’s Department.

When deputies arrived at Sligh’s address, they saw his car heading north. Following it, they eventually blocked the vehicle at 4307 Edwards Road and activated blue lights and “at least one siren,” according to Flood. The time was 10:22 a.m.

At this point, the Sheriff’s Office says, Sligh directed a firearm outside his vehicle and fired “at least one round” at deputies. The body camera footage from the scene shows what appears to be a firearm pointed outside the driver’s side door of Sligh’s car.

Deputies returned fire, striking Sligh, who was later pronounced dead on the scene.

Sligh’s handgun was later found at the foot of the driver’s seat in his vehicle.

On Sept. 28, Sheriff Hobart Lewis confirmed deputies had fired “multiple” rounds at Sligh.

The video did not identify the deputies involved in the shooting, specify how many had fired at Sligh, or disclose the number of rounds used.

In the video released Saturday morning, Lewis said that the department’s Office of Professional Standards had investigated the incident to determine whether deputies’ actions were consistent with the Sheriff’s Office’s use of force policy.

Lt. Ryan Flood, a spokesperson for the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office, was unavailable for comment after the video’s release.

"What happened to my child?" Sligh's family demands answers

Reached Saturday morning, Bruce Wilson of the Fighting Injustice Together initiative said the video left several “major questions surrounding the incident” unanswered.

Wilson, who has been working with the family in the aftermath of the shooting, said the family had viewed the video but raised questions about several key points.

“Who shot first? That question has not been answered,” Wilson said.

Wilson acknowledged the Sheriff’s Office’s report that Sligh shot “at least one round” at deputies before they opened fire. But he said the video did not provide “conclusive evidence” of this sequence of events.

“One of the biggest problems is the audio,” Wilson said. “The audio would have showed who shot first. If Mr. Sligh shot a gun at them, we could hear it on the audio.”

'This family won't rest':'This family won't rest': Family of man killed in deputy-involved shooting demand answers

The body camera audio of the fatal shooting does not begin until 30 seconds into the footage. In the video, Flood said this is not unusual when body cameras are "suddenly activated" because audio picks up only 30 seconds into the activation.

Wilson said the audio would have proven whether police identified themselves as law enforcement by turning on a siren before the shooting occurred, as the Sheriff’s Office reported.

“I don’t think it’s wrong for the family” to ask these questions, Wilson said.

Wilson also described a “secondary video,” taken on a cellphone by a bystander, that the family has also watched.

According to Wilson, the video shows a deputy discharging “one single gunshot” after the officers had already shot at Sligh.

The Sheriff’s Office video, Wilson said, does not address why the deputy did so.

Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Ryan Flood made no reference to a secondary video in the footage released Saturday. Flood did not immediately respond to requests from The Greenville News for comment.

Wilson said the family had turned the secondary video over to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED), which is also reviewing the incident as per standard procedure in officer-involved shootings.

SLED confirmed to The Greenville News on Thursday that its investigation is ongoing and did not release any new information on Saturday.

The Greenville News has filed a Freedom of Information Act request with SLED for all footage, documentation, and materials related to Sligh’s death. The request is pending.

Wilson declined to clarify whether the family had turned the secondary video over to the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office.

“The family has assured me that if this was a good shooting, and Mr. Sligh shot first, they would understand what happened,” he said. “But they want to get to that point where everything is out in the open.”

At a press conference held days after the shooting, Sligh's family expressed their anguish over the events that led to Sligh's death.

"I just want the truth, good or bad. What happened to my child? A wild animal doesn't deserve to be shot at that many times," said Debra Roberts, Sligh's mother.

Roberts said her son was suffering from a mental health crisis during the Sept. 28 incident. Wilson said Sligh had a "verifiable mental health issue" but declined to comment on whether Sligh was actively in crisis at the time of the shooting.

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Details from Greenville County SC deputy-involved shooting released